Sword Art Online - Volume 1 - Aincrad (12 page)

As the light faded, I recognized the person inside, and the impressive white cape with a red symbol on it. The man, who wore a KoB uniform and carried a sword that seemed to be a little overly decorated, was the long haired bodyguard who had been following Asuna around yesterday. His name was Cradil or something.

Cradil
’
s frown grew deeper as he saw Asuna behind me. He didn
’
t look all that old. He would only be around his early twenties, but the wrinkles on his face made him look older. He gritted his teeth so hard that we could almost hear it and then spoke with a barely concealed anger.

“
A
…
Asuna-sama, you shouldn’t be acting on your own like this
…
!
”
 

As
I
heard
the
voice
that
bordered
on
hysterical,
I
thought
 
This
is
going
to
get
complicated
 
and
pulled
in
my
shoulders.
With
his
heavily
lidded
eyes
glowering,
Cradil
spoke
again.
 

“
Now, Asuna-sama, let
’
s return to HQ.
”
 

“
No. I
’
m not even on duty today!
…
and Cradil, why were you standing in front of my house so early in the morning?
”
 

Asuna replied angrily behind me.

“
Fufu, I knew that such a situation would occur, so I started going to Salemburg to watch your house starting a month ago.
”
 

I could only be surprised at Cradil
’
s proud answer. Asuna froze too. After a long silence she asked with a forced voice.

“
That
…
that
’
s not part of the leader
’
s orders is it
…
?
”
 

“
My duty is to escort you, Asuna-sama. Watching your house is included in
…”
 

“
What do you mean included, idiot!
”
 

Cradil walked over with his expression becoming even more angry and annoyed, then pushed me out of the way and grabbed Asuna
’
s hand.

“
You don
’
t seem to understand. Please don
’
t be like this
…
now let
’
s go back to HQ.
”
 

Asuna appeared to have been frightened by the voice that seemed to hide something barely concealed behind it. She threw an imploring look my way.

To tell the truth, I was wondering whether to run away like I always did until that point. But the moment I saw Asuna
’
s eyes my hand started moving by itself. I grabbed Cradil
’
s right arm, the one that was grabbing Asuna, and increased the strength in my hand until just before the crime prevention code would be invoked.

“
Sorry, but I
’
m borrowing your sub-captain for today.
”
 

The line sounded stupid even to my ears, but I couldn
’
t back down now. Cradil, who had been purposefully ignoring me until now, scrunched his face up and pulled his hand away.

“
You
…
!
”
 

He screamed in a voice that seemed to rasp. Even if the system overstated expressions, there was still something that seemed strange behind his voice.

“
I
’
ll guarantee Asuna
’
s safety. It
’
s not like we
’
re going to fight a boss today. You can return to HQ by yourself.
”
 

“
D
…
Don
’
t kid with me!! Do you think a pathetic player like you can protect Asuna-sama!!
”
 

“
Better than you can, most probably.
”
 

“
Y-You insolent fool
…
! I-If you can talk big I suppose you
’
re prepared to back it up
…
?
”
 

Cradil, his face now white, called the menu screen with his right hand and manipulated it quickly. Soon a semi-transparent system message appeared in front of me. I could guess what it is before I even read it.

[A 1-on-1 duel has been requested by Cradil. Do you accept?]

Below the expressionlessly shining letters were the Yes/No buttons and a number of other options. I glanced sideways at Asuna. She couldn
’
t see the message but seemed to have guessed what was going on. I thought that she would try and stop me, but surprisingly she nodded slightly with a rigid expression.

“…
is it okay? Won
’
t this pose a problem in the guild
…
?
”
 

Asuna answered to my whispered question with one of her own.

“
It
’
s fine. I
’
ll report this to the leader myself.
”
 

I nodded in reply, then pressed Yes and chose the «First Strike Mode» from the options.

This was a duel that could be won either by landing the first clean hit or by reducing the opponent
’
s HP to half. The message changed to [You have accepted the 1-on-1 duel with Cradil], and a countdown of 60 seconds appeared below it. The moment that number reached zero, the HP protection system that was in effect within the town would be momentarily withdrawn, and he and I would be able to cross swords until one of us won.

Cradil seemed to have made his own interpretation of Asuna
’
s consent.

“
Please watch, Asuna-sama! I will prove that there was no one better than I to escort you!
”
 

He shouted with an expression that barely concealed his delight, drawing his huge two-handed sword from his waist, and positioning himself with a clanking sound.

I made sure that Asuna had moved further away before I drew my one-handed sword from my back. As one would expect from a member of a famous guild, his sword looked much better than mine. It wasn
’
t just the size difference between a one-handed and a two-handed sword, but that while my sword was a simple and practical weapon, his had been fully decorated by a top class craftsman.

As we stood about five meters apart, waiting for the countdown to finish, people started crowding around us. It wasn
’
t all that strange. This was a gate plaza in the middle of a town, and both of us were pretty well-known players.

“
Solo Kirito and a KoB member are having a duel!
”
 

As someone shouted that, cheers sounded from here and there. Since duels were usually for comparing your skills with a friend, all of the spectators cheered and whistled, ignorant to the situation that had led up to this.

But as the timer counted down, all of this started to fade away. I felt a cold thread pass through my body like when I was fighting a monster. I focused in order to read the atmosphere around Cradil, who was looking about here and there with glances of annoyance, and examined his stance and the way his feet moved.

Humans were far more liable to show certain habits when they were about to use a skill. Whether it was a charging or defending skill, or if it would start low from the ground or from high up, if their body revealed this kind of information then it became a critical weakness.

Cradil
’
s sword was leaning a bit back from the middle of his body and his lower body was bent down. It was clearly a sign that he was going to use a high aiming charge-type attack. Of course, it could have been a feint. I myself was actually posing with my sword in a low and relaxed posture, giving the impression that my first attack was going to be a weak blow to his lower body. You could only rely on your experience and “feel” when searching for feints.

As the countdown went down to single digits, I closed the window. I couldn
’
t even hear the noise around me anymore.

I saw Cradil, who had been rapidly switching his gaze from me to the window and then back, went still while the muscles of his body tensed. The word [DUEL!!] appeared in the space between us and I jumped. Sparks flew from the sole of my boot and the air whistled by as my shoulder cut through it.

Not even a moment had passed before Cradil
’
s body began to move as well. But there was an expression of surprise on his face, since I had shattered his expectations of a low, defend-type attack skill and charged.

Cradil
’
s first attack was, as I had guessed, a high hitting two-handed sword charge skill: «Avalanche». If the guard was too weak, the defender might be able to block the blow but wouldn
’
t be able to counterattack straight away due to the impact, meanwhile the player who used it would be able to buy time to ready his stance again, since the charge widened the distance between them. It was a very good high level skill. Well at least against monsters.

I, who had already read what Cradil was going to do, chose the charge-type skill «Sonic Leap». If we both kept charging, our skills would collide.

If we were to look at only the strength of the skill, his was stronger, and the game would favor the heavier skill if two attacks collided. In this case my sword would be deflected and his skill would hit me, weakened but still enough to end the duel. But I wasn
’
t after Cradil himself.

The space between us narrowed quickly. But my perception had been quickened as well, and it felt like time had slowed down. I wasn
’
t sure if this was a result of the system or if it was an ability that humans naturally had. All I know was that I could see all of his movements.

The sword, which was leaning backwards, started giving off an orange light and sped towards me. His stats must have been pretty high, as one would expect from the best guild, since the time it took for the skill to start was shorter than I expected. The brightly shining blade rushed in. If I hit that skill straight on there was no doubt that I
’
d receive enough damage to end the duel. Cradil
’
s face showed his ecstasy at his apparent victory. But-

My sword, with its head-start, moved a little quicker, drawing a slanted green trajectory and hitting his sword just before it ended its attack. The game calculated the damage dealt by my sword, producing a huge spark.

Another result of two weapons colliding was «Weapon Break». It only had a chance of happening when a weapon received a heavy blow to a weak part of its structure.

But I was certain that it would break. Weapons with too much decoration had low durability.

As expected
—
with an ear-wrenching sound
—
Cradil
’
s two-handed blade broke. There was an effect like an explosion.

We passed by each other in mid-air and landed at where the other had jumped. The broken half of his sword spun in mid-air, reflecting the sunlight, before it dug itself into the stone ground between us. After that, both the broken half and the half remaining in Cradil
’
s hands shattered into countless polygon fragments.

Silence overtook the plaza for a while. All of the spectators were frozen with their mouths wide open. But after I landed, stood up, and habitually swung my sword from left to right, they started cheering.

“
Awesome!
”
 

“
Was he actually aiming for that!?
”
 

As I heard everyone starting to critique the short fight I sighed. Even if it was a single skill, revealing even one card from my hand wasn
’
t something to be happy about.

With the sword in my hand I started walking over to where Cradil was sitting with his back turned. That back, covered by the white cape, was shaking violently. After loudly sheathing my sword on purpose, I said in a small voice.

“
If you want to come again with a new weapon I
’
ll fight you again
…
but this is enough right?
”
 

Cradil didn
’
t even try to look at me. He shook with both hands on the ground as if he was sick. But soon he said with an almost creaky voice
“
I resign.
”
He could have just said or in Japanese.